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November 26, 2011

Handmade Hanukkah greeting cards

The supermarkets, groceries, coffee shops, and street stalls here in Israel have already started selling sweet and delicious "sufganiyah" doughnuts, stuffed with jam and covered with powdered sugar. This means that the holiday of Hanukkah is just around the corner. This year it will start on December 20, and I've been already making greeting cards and children crafts for Hanukkah.

One of the cards I finished recently was the purple one. I came across a piece wrapping paper with a beautiful pattern on one side and a shiny purple surface on the other that was asking to be used for a greeting card. The central part of the card is raised a little above the base — it's mounted on double-sided adhesive foam. The edges are slightly tinted with pastels. The Hanukkah menorah (Hanukiah) was quilled using 1/8"-wide paper strips (3mm). The dreidels (spinning tops, usually four-sided) were cut out of paper of the same color as the quilling strips used for the Hanukiah. I also used the same paper and a paper punch to make the three tiny flowers at the top-left corner of the card. Size of this Hanukkah greeting card is 5 5/8" x 4 1/2" (14.3 x 11.5cm).

After finishing the purple card and being very pleased with it, I made also this recessed window card. In the window I placed a blue quilled Hanukiah made of paper strips 1/8 inches wide (3mm). To cut out the dreidel I used a simple snap-off knife. Size of the blue card is 5 5/8" x 4 1/4" (14.3 x 11cm).

If you like the recessed window card and are looking for a good step-by-step guide for making one, then you'd find the excellent Recessed Window tutorial by Linn Mercurio very useful. Other ideas for Hanukkah crafts can be found in the Hanukkah section of the Judaic Arts page. You might also want to keep following my blog, for I'll be posting even more Hanukkah craft ideas shortly.